Category: Pasta

After the thrilling Sweden-Switzerland game during the FIFA world cup in Russia, we needed some carbs to soak up the beer we’d had while watching.

This is probably a more American-Italian style spaghetti then genuinly Italian. It’s a bit resembling to an “angry” arrabiata sauce though, but without oregano. I also had some parmesan cheese on, which is a no-no when it comes to seafood in Italy.

This was a really nice, and easy to make, seafood or prawn (or shrimp) spaghetti. I made it quite spicy with a load of toasted chilli flakes, but just skip most of them if you want a less spicy version.

We had garlic bread on the side (might also have something to do with the game beers we had), a bit unneccessary but also delicious.

What you need (for 2-3 servings)

12-15 peeled prawns

About 300 grams of fresh good quality tomatoes (or use canned)

3-4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

About 250 grams of spaghetti

Fresh, finely chopped parsley

Dried chilli flakes

Olive oil

1. Chop the fresh tomatoes relatively finely. Use a sharp knife or this will be frustrating.

2. Heat olive oil in a pan. When the oil is quite hot, add the chilli flakes and give them a nice toast for 30 seconds or so. Then add the garlic and fry for a short while until soft, but not burnt. A little bit of colour is okay though.

3. Add the prawns to the oil, cook a shirt while on each side until cooked through but before they get rubbery. This does not take long, so watch them. Remove shrimos from oil and set aside (they will go back into the sauce later).

3. Add the tomatoes to garlic-chilli oil. Let simmer for about 25-30 minutes. Add some water if it reduces to quickly.

5. Add the spaghetti and reserved cooking liquid to tomatoes in pan. Combine together for a minute or two on low eat until the sauce and pasta is properly mixed. At the last 20-30 seconds, add prawns and fresh parsley, and toss.

6. Serve immediately! I also used parmesan, because I am a sinner, and it was really good too.

This weekend, I tried the last one of the four pastas of Rome. The four pastas of Rome is carbonara (egg, guanciale/pancetta, pecorino, black pepper), Amatriciana (guanciale/pancetta and tomatoes), Cacio e Pepe (black pepper, pecorino) and the Pasta alla Gricia, with pecorino and guanciale/pancetta.

Pasta, or spaghetti alla Gricia is sort of a cacio e pepe with added crunch from crispy fried guanciale, or pancetta. The proper pork to use is guanciale, which is air-dried pork cheek. But when not in Rome, you can substitute it with pancetta, or in worst case bacon (preferably un-smoked).

What you need for Spaghetti alla Gricia (serves approximately four):

One package of spaghetti (I use Martelli or De Ceccho)

300 grams of guanciale/pancetta/bacon, cut into cubes, strips

2,5 deciliters/one cup of pecorino cheese

1/2 deciliter (1/4ish cup) of strained pasta cooking water

Black pepper

Salt

1. Add the pork to a cold pan and put on heat. This will make the fat render and make the pork crispier. I sometimes add a garlic clove to this to slightly flavour the pork (discard when done).

2. Cook the spaghetti until almost al dente, the pasta will cook some more in the sauce. Save the cooking liquid as indicated above.

3. Grate the pecorino cheese as finely as your grater allows. Mix about half of it with a couple of tablespoons of water to a smooth ‘sauce’.

4. When pork is crispy, turn off/lower the heat and add the al dente spaghetti into the pork and fat pan (remove some of the fat if desired). Toss around and then add the pecorino mixed with water as well as the reserved cooking liquid.

5. Stirr until the liquids almost has reduced and the pasta is covered in silky cheese sauce. Add almost all the remaining pecorino, salt and black pepper and give a final toss before removing from heat.

The other day I went to have dinner at one of my favourite restaurants in Stockholm; Urban Deli. There, I found that they sold fresh Gotlandic autumn truffles. The lady working the deli part of Urban Deli kindly allowed me to have a sniff before I decided to go ahead and buy the tiny but great smelling truffle.

When that was done, the mission was to figure out what to cook with it. I was craving carbonara, and since truffle is good with eggs, and sort of mild flavours, I’d thought I give a truffle spaghetti carbonara a try. Below recipe is my go to for a ‘normal’ carbonara. So it’s very much usable without any truffle. 🙂

What you need for the carbonara (2-3 portions)

300 grams Spaghetti (I used Martelli)

4 good quality eggs (I only use the yolks)

About 100 grams of guanciale, pancetta or bacon (preferably in quite thick slices)

Cooking water

1 deciliter of grated pecorino cheese, or parmesan cheese

Olive oil

Salt and black pepper

1 black truffle (optional)

How to cook

1. To start with, add quite a lot of salt to water in a cooking pan and set to boil.

2. Combine the four egg yolks with about 3/4 of the grated pecorino/parmesan cheese. Add a bit of salt and some black pepper (but not too much so the truffle is overpowered). If you’re not using truffle, go wild with the pepper though.

3. Slice guanciale/pancetta/bacon in to quite thick cubes.

4. Cook the spaghetti al dente, before draining the pasta reserve a deciliter/half cup of the cooking water in a cup or similar.

5. Put the cubed pork in a cold pan before putting on heat. This will make the fat render, which you’ll need to make the creaminess. Fry until crisp and set aside.

6. Gently combine spaghetti, egg-cheese mix, cooking water and fried pork, including the fat from the frying, over low heat, continously folding/stirring so the eggs won’t set. When the spaghetti is coated with creamy sauce and most liquid’s gone, immediately remove from heat and serve.

Top with grated or shaved truffle if using, and an extra sprinkle of the remaining cheese. Enjoy!